Delighted to be able to say that MBT 2, Lamplighter has been shortlisted in the 2009 NSW (meaning New South Wales for the uninitiated) Premier's Literary Award's The Ethel Turner Prize for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for young people of secondary school level. The list of us all goes a little like this:
Dianne Bates - Crossing the Line
Michelle Cooper - A Brief History of Montmaray
D.M Cornish - Monster Blood Tattoo Book Two: Lamplighter
Alison Goodman - The Two Pearls of Wisdom
Nette Hilton - Sprite Downberry
Joanne Horrniman - My Candlelight Novel
I feel like a bit of an upstart occupying a list with such luminaries. VERY VERY gratified to be recognised in one the countries big awards, thank you so much to those that put me there. With all this good news I just might explode with joy... if, of course, my stupid character flaws would just stop getting in the way and spoiling the glee...
For all the shortlistings for the entire gamut of the NSW Premier's Awards for this year go here!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
That Initial Story... or How Monster-Blood Tattoo came to be.
'Bout time I posted don't we think!
E N Reinmuth was pondering... "If memory serves me right it was your interview on either the Today show or Mornings with David and Kim that got me out searching for MBT-Foundling, (technically I saw the gudgeon design before Lamplighter was even published, whoot!) and you said that you had gone to a publisher for a different story, and upon leaving you had dropped your notebook which held details of the world of the HC, and in turn the publisher asked you to write as many words a week, etc etc, leading to Foundling. Might I ask what that initial story was?"
Yes you may! It goes a little like this...
'Tis a long story I shall attempt to make short. I trained back in the early 1990's as an illustrator in Adelaide, South Australia. In 1995 I moved to Sydney to pursue illustration work with magazines, newspapers and advertisers. In 1997 I began as a cartoonist at Burgo's Catchphrase working there and as a freelance illustrator until I followed adventure overseas to the US in 2003, before crash landing back in Adelaide again.
Looking for illustration work, I went to a local publisher - Omnibus Books, an imprint of Scholastic Australia - on the recommendation of a fellow illustrator friend, Cheryl Johns. At Omnibus, the publisher, Dyan Blacklock, gave me a cover to complete, then a whole picture book (Grannysaurus Rex written by Tony Wilson, which is that "different story" I mentioned).
I used to sit in her office and talk about life the universe and everything and one day one of my many small black notebooks fell out of my bag as I reached for some gum. The book had the number "23" boldly on its cover and snatching it up, Dyan immediately began to peer within, wondering (she later told me) where the previous 22 notebooks were. Inside she found my crabbed notes about a pretend world I had been scribbling about since about 1993 (hence the then 23 and now 32 - almost 33 - notebooks). Dyan tells it that she felt the hairs on her neck raise; she asked me if I had written any stories about this pretend world.
I said, "No."
She returned, "Do you have any characters from this world?"
To this I responded "Yes," and began to list some off, including Rossamund, a boy with a girl's name.
Dyan thought he sounded interesting and persisted, "Put him down somewhere in the Half-Continent and tell us what happens."
So I did... and here we are.
E N Reinmuth was pondering... "If memory serves me right it was your interview on either the Today show or Mornings with David and Kim that got me out searching for MBT-Foundling, (technically I saw the gudgeon design before Lamplighter was even published, whoot!) and you said that you had gone to a publisher for a different story, and upon leaving you had dropped your notebook which held details of the world of the HC, and in turn the publisher asked you to write as many words a week, etc etc, leading to Foundling. Might I ask what that initial story was?"
Yes you may! It goes a little like this...
'Tis a long story I shall attempt to make short. I trained back in the early 1990's as an illustrator in Adelaide, South Australia. In 1995 I moved to Sydney to pursue illustration work with magazines, newspapers and advertisers. In 1997 I began as a cartoonist at Burgo's Catchphrase working there and as a freelance illustrator until I followed adventure overseas to the US in 2003, before crash landing back in Adelaide again.
Looking for illustration work, I went to a local publisher - Omnibus Books, an imprint of Scholastic Australia - on the recommendation of a fellow illustrator friend, Cheryl Johns. At Omnibus, the publisher, Dyan Blacklock, gave me a cover to complete, then a whole picture book (Grannysaurus Rex written by Tony Wilson, which is that "different story" I mentioned).
I used to sit in her office and talk about life the universe and everything and one day one of my many small black notebooks fell out of my bag as I reached for some gum. The book had the number "23" boldly on its cover and snatching it up, Dyan immediately began to peer within, wondering (she later told me) where the previous 22 notebooks were. Inside she found my crabbed notes about a pretend world I had been scribbling about since about 1993 (hence the then 23 and now 32 - almost 33 - notebooks). Dyan tells it that she felt the hairs on her neck raise; she asked me if I had written any stories about this pretend world.
I said, "No."
She returned, "Do you have any characters from this world?"
To this I responded "Yes," and began to list some off, including Rossamund, a boy with a girl's name.
Dyan thought he sounded interesting and persisted, "Put him down somewhere in the Half-Continent and tell us what happens."
So I did... and here we are.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Nebula Awards(R) 2009
Very very delighted to tell that Monster-Blood Tattoo 2, Lamplighter has been shortlisted in the Andre Norton Award (the YA section) of the 2009 Nebula Awards. Given that some of my favourite authors have been past recipients (Frank Herbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, Orson Scott Card) amongst many of other lights of spec fic (Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Gene Wolfe, &c &c &c... including last years Andre Norton winner, Ms Rowling herself) I am most utterly astonished, gratified and thrilled.
It is my pleasure to also boast that Lamplighter was included on Locus Magazine's 2008 Recommended Reading List (as released last month), so happiness all round.
I shall stop showing away (again...) and get back to editing.
(Book 3 better be good, dang it! my fears cry)
It is my pleasure to also boast that Lamplighter was included on Locus Magazine's 2008 Recommended Reading List (as released last month), so happiness all round.
I shall stop showing away (again...) and get back to editing.
(Book 3 better be good, dang it! my fears cry)
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